Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/158

 126 HISTORY OF GREECE. ander offered a solemn sacrifice of thanksgiving, with three altars erected on the banks of the Pinnrus ; while he at the same time buried the dead, consoled the wounded, and rewarded or compli- mented all who had distinguished themselves. ^ No victory recorded in history was ever more complete in it- self, or more far-stretching in its consequences, than that of Issus. Not only was the Persian force destroyed or dispersed, but the efforts of Darius for recovery were pai-alyzed by the capture of his family. Portions of the dissipated army of Issus may be traced, re-appearing in different places for operations of detail ; but we shall find no farther resistance to Alexander and his main force, except from the brave freemen of two fortified cities. Every- where an overwhelming sentiment of admiration and terror was spread abroad, towards the force, skill, or good fortune of Alex- der, by whichever name it might be called — together with con- tempt for the real value of a Persian army, in spite of so muclx imposing pomp and numerical show ; a contempt, not new to in- telligent Greeks, but now communicated even to vulgar minds by the recent unparalleled catastrophe. Both as general and as soldier, indeed, the consummate excellence of Alexander stood conspicuous, not less than the signal deficiency of Darius. The fault in the latter, upon which most remark is usually made, was, that of fighting the battle, not in an open plain, but in a narrow valley, whereby his superiority of number was rendered unprofit- able. But this (as I have already observed) was only one among many mistakes, and by no means the most serious. The result would have been the same, had the battle been fought in the plains to the eastward of Mount Amanus. Superior numbers are of little avail on any ground unless there be a general who knows how to make use of them ; unless they be distributed into separate divisions ready to combine for offensive action on many points at once, or at any rate to lend support to each other in de- fence, so that a defeat of one fraction is not a defeat of the whole. The faith of Darius in simple multitude was altogether blind and ' Arrian, ii 12, 1 ; Curtius, iii. 12, 27 ; Diodor. xvii. 40. The " Arae Al- exandri, in radicibus Amani," arc mentioned by Cicero (ad Famil. xv. 4) When commanding in Kilikia he encamped there with his army four days.